President Robert Mugabe is widely expected to win Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections on Thursday.
With the opposition MDC cowed and weakened, most experts believe Mugabe's ZANU-PF party will score a much easier victory than in the last cliffhanger parliamentary elections five years ago and a presidential poll in 2002.
There are 120 assembly seats up for grabs, but the ruling party is assured of 30 of them under a series of electoral and other laws that critics say rig the poll in Mugabe's favour.
A calm election, without the bloodshed that marred the two previous polls, is crucial for Mugabe in his fight against international isolation and to win back Western aid - critical for Zimbabwe's economic recovery.
Shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange plague many parts of the once-prosperous country.
The campaign has been peaceful, but political analysts say the expected victory will not help Mugabe's international credibility problem.
Human Rights organisations and the opposition have already denounced the poll as rigged and allege the government is using food supplies in the hungry countryside as a weapon to guarantee votes.